Cancellations and delays for travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow as Carstairs work continues

Picture: Avanti West Coast
Network Rail will begin the second stage of its work to modernise Carstairs Junction on Monday. Credit: Avanti West Coast

Passengers travelling between Carlisle and Glasgow are being warned of delays and cancellations as the next stage of upgrade work begins.

Network Rail will begin the second stage of its work to modernise Carstairs Junction on Monday.

TransPennine Express:

Between Monday 20 March and Sunday 23 April, there will be changes to the following services:

  • Weekday services between Manchester and Glasgow will terminate at Carlisle for onward connections on Avanti West Coast services.

  • Weekday services to Edinburgh will run as normal.

  • On weekdays direct trains to and from Glasgow will be diverted between Carlisle and Glasgow, extending journey times by 45 minutes.

  • Weekend services between Manchester and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh will terminate at Carlisle for onward connections on Avanti West Coast (Glasgow) or TransPennine Express (Edinburgh) rail replacement services.

  • Rail replacement services will be in effect between:- Carlisle to Lockerbie, two hourly.- Lockerbie to Glasgow (calling at Motherwell only), two hourly.- Customers travelling to Glasgow should travel on alternative Avanti West Coast services.- Carlisle to Edinburgh (calling at Lockerbie only), hourly (weekend only).

Avanti West Coast:

Between Monday 20 March and Sunday 23 April, there will be the following changes:

  • Direct trains to and from Glasgow will be diverted between Carlisle and Glasgow, extending journey times by 45 minutes.

  • Avanti West Coast will have no direct trains to Edinburgh.

ScotRail:

  • ScotRail services between Glasgow Central and Carlisle are unaffected by the work.

The second phase of the work is expected to finish on 23 April.

Customers making journeys to and from Scotland are advised to check before they travel.

This is the latest phase of a three-month programme of work by Network Rail.

The work is part of a £164m Scottish Government investment to modernise Carstairs Junction for passenger and freight services.

Over the Easter weekend (Friday 7 to Monday 10 April), there will be further changes to journeys as Network Rail will carry out essential improvement and engineering work across multiple sections of the West Coast Main Line.

Barry Milsom, Executive Director of Operations at Avanti West Coast said: "With the next phase of Network Rail’s major upgrade work at Carstairs due to begin on Monday 20 March, we’d like to thank our customers for their continued patience and remind them to check before they travel, as there’ll be further changes to Scottish services for another five weeks."

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